TOURISM: Bringing Economic Stability or Environmental Destruction?
Tourism brings up a complex matrix of problems having local and global, social and political, environmental and cultural effects. Solely focusing on the local problems presented many issues so the following is a basic overview of the main impact focusing on its local effects. Links at the bottom and throughout direct to a more comprehensive view globally, and specific views locally of this international problem.
The Problem::
Physical Impacts [Local]
Water is an extremely valuable resource and a limited one in many countries. Tourism brings many more hotels, resorts, and golf courses that waste an excessive amount of water each day.
“Average golf course in a tropical country such as Thailand needs 1500kg of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides per year and uses as much water as 60,000 rural villagers” – Tourism Concern
In terms of pollution, international air travelers numbered 88 million in 1972 and grew to 344 million in 1994. Tourism accounts for 60% of air travel and an estimated one transatlantic flight emits ½ of the CO2 emissions by one person in a year. [Mayer, Hillman, “Town and Country Planning Magazine”. Sept. 1996. Source: MFOE.] Tour buses also tend to leave engines running so that tourists will always have a cool bus to return to. Noise pollution from buses, and other industry, is a major concern as it disturbs wildlife in their natural state and result in a change to their natural patterns to be disturbed. More people means more solid waste and littering. Cruise ships in the Caribbean generate approximately 70,000 tons of waste per year. Aesthetic pollution is common in tourist areas as well. Many times if the area develops too rapidly there is little attention paid to the visual aspect of the new construction and only to the growing need for it.
Tourism spurs major infrastructure change as well. Much more construction occurs in tourist areas for tourist facilities, sewages, roads, airports, marinas and more. Much of this infrastructure is rapidly planned and built with the poor planning leading to more environmental and economic problems in the future.
“Almost half of all construction in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s took place in coastal areas”-Ocean Planet
One of the biggest impacts of tourism on the environment is consumption of natural resources. Tourists use energy, eat food, and use raw materials, both for general needs and in the construction of new tourist facilities. Land degradation in terms of fossil fuels, forests, top soil, wetlands, and wildlife is common, especially deforestation. Trekking tourists in Nepal use 4-5 kg of wood per day and trekkers leave many pounds of waste along their hike to minimize weight carried. In Nepal and the surrounding area many movements are being made to encourage and require trekkers to carry their trash and dispose of it when the reach garbage bins. [See TAAN and KEEP for more information on programs to promote ecological awareness of trekking]
“There are 109 countries with coral reefs. Reefs in 90 of them are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, by tourists breaking off chunks of coral, and by commercial harvesting for sale to tourists.” –Ocean Planet
Social Impacts
The stakeholders of tourism are the owners of the businesses profiting such as restaurants, hotels, adventure expeditions and more. The stakeholders/owners of these businesses tend to be already wealthy businessmen who either own a large chain or are residents of a distant location. Much of the money that is made is not benefiting the local economy unless the tourists are eating at locally owned restaurants and staying at locally owned hotels. Another stakeholder in the tourist industry is the government. In the case of Nicaragua, there is an entire beach town that is owned by the government where a toll must be paid to enter and use the beach. The toll [less than a dollar per person] is a source of income for the government who can in turn use the money to provide government aid to those in need in the country. All of the hotels and restaurants located in the government owned zone are locally owned and solely benefit the local industry. In most cases the stakeholders are not the local/original inhabitants. In fact they are generally robbed of their land, natural resources, air quality, and more.
Tourism, though it has its faults brings many opportunities for local residents. One of these opportunities is employment. New facilities bring new job positions and income to the residents. One problem this poses occasionally is that in some cases, specifically the case of a resort on a beach in Costa Rica, the resort pays their employees well below the national minimum but they know that if their employees complain or quit, then there is a substantial amount of others to replace them. Another problem with the tourism industry is that in most cases there is a high season and a low season. The unstable income can be detrimental to the society. [For more information on Social Impacts]
Implications of NOT Addressing::
If this problem of tourism is not addressed there will be an increasing move toward World-System Theory, where few countries exploit the resources of the many. The resources of the developing countries where tourism is prominent will begin to be depleted and those who originally lived there will have to relocate. There is also the potential that these areas will get built up to the point that the local citizens will not be able to afford to live in the area.
Potential Solutions:: Improve the understanding of the relationship between climate change and tourism, and promote the formulation and implementation of adaptation and mitigation policies and measures. [World Tourism Organization]
Education, publicity, pro-poor tourism, sustainable tourism and Eco-tourism are a few of the many potential solutions to this growing problem. In the example of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, a new program was launched that allow tourists to visit criminal-cleared slums in order to bring publicity to the poverty of the favelas [neighborhoods in Rio] and try to clear up the criminal activity from them. Establishing visitor limits to conservation areas will also cut down on over-use and depletion of resources.
There is a debate on the validity of eco-tourism, is it the sustainable solution we are looking for? Or just a cover-up to many of the problems that may still exist? Eco-tourism’s mission is simple: “Uniting conservation, communities and sustainable travel, TIES [The International Ecotourism Society] promotes responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” TIES [The International Ecotourism Society] Though there is debate on whether these aspects of environmental tourism are actually achieved where it is advertised, the underlying principle is simple to follow. Some simple research is required but strive to stay in places where the money either benefits local ecological research, environmental clean-up/resource agencies, or local people. Shy away from large corporate venues where the owner is clearly from out of country and has no local or environmental ties.
TOURISM:
Bringing Economic Stability or Environmental Destruction?
Tourism brings up a complex matrix of problems having local and global, social and political, environmental and cultural effects. Solely focusing on the local problems presented many issues so the following is a basic overview of the main impact focusing on its local effects. Links at the bottom and throughout direct to a more comprehensive view globally, and specific views locally of this international problem.
The Problem::
Physical Impacts [Local]
Water is an extremely valuable resource and a limited one in many countries. Tourism brings many more hotels, resorts, and golf courses that waste an excessive amount of water each day.
“Average golf course in a tropical country such as Thailand needs 1500kg of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides per year and uses as much water as 60,000 rural villagers” – Tourism Concern
In terms of pollution, international air travelers numbered 88 million in 1972 and grew to 344 million in 1994. Tourism accounts for 60% of air travel and an estimated one transatlantic flight emits ½ of the CO2 emissions by one person in a year. [Mayer, Hillman, “Town and Country Planning Magazine”. Sept. 1996. Source: MFOE.] Tour buses also tend to leave engines running so that tourists will always have a cool bus to return to. Noise pollution from buses, and other industry, is a major concern as it disturbs wildlife in their natural state and result in a change to their natural patterns to be disturbed. More people means more solid waste and littering. Cruise ships in the Caribbean generate approximately 70,000 tons of waste per year. Aesthetic pollution is common in tourist areas as well. Many times if the area develops too rapidly there is little attention paid to the visual aspect of the new construction and only to the growing need for it.
Tourism spurs major infrastructure change as well. Much more construction occurs in tourist areas for tourist facilities, sewages, roads, airports, marinas and more. Much of this infrastructure is rapidly planned and built with the poor planning leading to more environmental and economic problems in the future.
“Almost half of all construction in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s took place in coastal areas”-Ocean Planet
One of the biggest impacts of tourism on the environment is consumption of natural resources. Tourists use energy, eat food, and use raw materials, both for general needs and in the construction of new tourist facilities. Land degradation in terms of fossil fuels, forests, top soil, wetlands, and wildlife is common, especially deforestation. Trekking tourists in Nepal use 4-5 kg of wood per day and trekkers leave many pounds of waste along their hike to minimize weight carried. In Nepal and the surrounding area many movements are being made to encourage and require trekkers to carry their trash and dispose of it when the reach garbage bins. [See TAAN and KEEP for more information on programs to promote ecological awareness of trekking]
“There are 109 countries with coral reefs. Reefs in 90 of them are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, by tourists breaking off chunks of coral, and by commercial harvesting for sale to tourists.” –Ocean Planet
Social Impacts
The stakeholders of tourism are the owners of the businesses profiting such as restaurants, hotels, adventure expeditions and more. The stakeholders/owners of these businesses tend to be already wealthy businessmen who either own a large chain or are residents of a distant location. Much of the money that is made is not benefiting the local economy unless the tourists are eating at locally owned restaurants and staying at locally owned hotels. Another stakeholder in the tourist industry is the government. In the case of Nicaragua, there is an entire beach town that is owned by the government where a toll must be paid to enter and use the beach. The toll [less than a dollar per person] is a source of income for the government who can in turn use the money to provide government aid to those in need in the country. All of the hotels and restaurants located in the government owned zone are locally owned and solely benefit the local industry. In most cases the stakeholders are not the local/original inhabitants. In fact they are generally robbed of their land, natural resources, air quality, and more.
Tourism, though it has its faults brings many opportunities for local residents. One of these opportunities is employment. New facilities bring new job positions and income to the residents. One problem this poses occasionally is that in some cases, specifically the case of a resort on a beach in Costa Rica, the resort pays their employees well below the national minimum but they know that if their employees complain or quit, then there is a substantial amount of others to replace them. Another problem with the tourism industry is that in most cases there is a high season and a low season. The unstable income can be detrimental to the society. [For more information on Social Impacts]
Implications of NOT Addressing::
If this problem of tourism is not addressed there will be an increasing move toward World-System Theory, where few countries exploit the resources of the many. The resources of the developing countries where tourism is prominent will begin to be depleted and those who originally lived there will have to relocate. There is also the potential that these areas will get built up to the point that the local citizens will not be able to afford to live in the area.
Potential Solutions::
Improve the understanding of the relationship between climate change and tourism, and promote the formulation and implementation of adaptation and mitigation policies and measures. [World Tourism Organization]
Education, publicity, pro-poor tourism, sustainable tourism and Eco-tourism are a few of the many potential solutions to this growing problem. In the example of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, a new program was launched that allow tourists to visit criminal-cleared slums in order to bring publicity to the poverty of the favelas [neighborhoods in Rio] and try to clear up the criminal activity from them. Establishing visitor limits to conservation areas will also cut down on over-use and depletion of resources.
There is a debate on the validity of eco-tourism, is it the sustainable solution we are looking for? Or just a cover-up to many of the problems that may still exist? Eco-tourism’s mission is simple: “Uniting conservation, communities and sustainable travel, TIES [The International Ecotourism Society] promotes responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” TIES [The International Ecotourism Society] Though there is debate on whether these aspects of environmental tourism are actually achieved where it is advertised, the underlying principle is simple to follow. Some simple research is required but strive to stay in places where the money either benefits local ecological research, environmental clean-up/resource agencies, or local people. Shy away from large corporate venues where the owner is clearly from out of country and has no local or environmental ties.
[LINKS]
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/st-documents.html
http://www.taan.org.np/news_details1.php?nid=1077&PHPSESSID=e232d4c8cf2b69ae83765e242c6c4447
http://www.keepnepal.org/
http://www.grips.ac.jp/alumni/UzbekistanTourism%282%29.pdf
http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2675.pdf
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/Pdf/3q03wilk.pdf
[REFERENCES]
“Environmental Impacts of Tourism”. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2001. http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/envi/index.html. 8 Sept 2010.
Smithsonian Exhibition. “Ocean Planet” Smithsonian Institution. April 1995-1996. http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/education_threats.html. 11 Sept 2010.
Benchley, Peter and Gradwohl, Judith. Ocean Planet: Writings and Images of the Sea. Harry N. Abrams Inc., 100 5th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011
“Our Mission”. The International Ecotourism Society. 1990-2010. http://www.ecotourism.org/site/c.orLQKXPCLmF/b.4835251/k.FF11/Our_Mission__The_International_Ecotourism_Society.htm. 11 Sept 2010. 11 Sept 2010.
“Tourism Concern: Fighting Exploitation in Tourism”. London Metropolitan Museum. http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/. 11 Sept 2010.
“Rio Slums are Brazil’s Newest Tourist Destination”. The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 Aug 2010. http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/rio-slums-are-brazils-newest-tourist-destination-20100831-149o8.html. 11 Sept 2010.
“Sustainable Tourism”. Green Spider. 2009. http://www.greenspider.com.my/st/. 11 Sept 2010.
“Sustainable Development of Tourism: Mission Statement”. World Tourism Organization. http://www.unwto.org/sdt/mission/en/mission.php
[IMAGE REFERENCES]
http://cheap-spanish-hotels.co.uk
http://travel.internetindia.com/
http://www.gusto.com/southcarolina/myrtlebeach/hotels/near/beachhousegolfandracquet-10295/city1769216.html
http://www.graphicshunt.com/images/airplane-13367.htm
http://extremeeverest.wordpress.com/
http://feww.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/water-pollution.JPG